Talk:All about : Queen Elsa/@comment-74.99.65.62-20170604145025/@comment-74.99.65.62-20170604145635
In the books In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Myrcella, is a quiet, obedient, and honest girl, eight years old when the events of the books begin. Myrcella is a year younger than Arya Stark, and a year older than Bran Stark. She is said to have inherited her mother's beautiful looks, but none of her personality. Her mother dotes on her and is keen that she does not suffer Cersei's fate of being "sold" in a political marriage without love. Like all of Cersei's children she was mostly ignored by King Robert. While Cersei felt she doted on all of her children, she is more attached to her own mental constructs of them than the reality. As Cersei's loveless marriage with Robert dragged on year after year, she increasingly fantasized about how Joffrey would one day succeed Robert and become a great king himself, never acknowledging that he was really a petulant sociopath. Ironically, despite Cersei's defiant claims (and even earnest belief) that she is a devoted mother to all of her children, she actually became so obsessed with Joffrey (and her fantasies about him) that she all but ignored Myrcella and Tommen throughout their lives. From the moment she gave birth to Joffrey, Cersei dreamed about the great king he would grow into, and how as Jaime's secret son he would be her ultimate revenge on Robert: the births of her two subsequent children were barely an anecdote in the narrative of this mental fantasy which already been established in her mind years before. Her younger children were pushed off to the side, and with Robert a non-factor in their lives as well, they were functionally raised by court servants, such as Septa Eglantine. Even so, Cersei will still become hypocritically enraged when anyone questions her relationship with her younger children. TV viewers who haven't read the books may find it odd that while the children of the current generation of House Stark are given a large amount of screentime (even Arya or Bran), the younger children of the current generation of House Lannister barely appear at all. This is much as it was in the earlier books of the series, and is actually a key plot point: the almost total absence of Myrcella and Tommen from the inner dynamics of House Lannister is indicative of just how little importance they have to Cersei. People are aware they exist, but rarely even pause to consider treating them as individuals with their own emotions or agendas (between the two of them, they had only a single throwaway speaking line in the entire first season, "is Bran going to die?" -Rickon Stark had more dialogue in Season 1 than both of them combined). At best, Cersei will argue over their treatment on general principle, such as when she opposed "selling" Myrcella of to a political marriage in Dorne. However, Cersei was more angered in the sense that she felt something was being taken which''belonged'' to her: notice that neither the books nor TV series includes a scene in which Cersei discusses news of the marriage proposal with Myrcella. Thus it is all the more shocking when in later books, as they grow older, Myrcella and Tommen increasingly turn into major characters in the very midst of House Lannister, on the scale of Arya or Bran Stark, where before they were treated as non-entities. The other family members and courtiers (and by extension, the readers or TV viewers) are even criticized for ignoring them this entire time, and simply assuming they were content. The smiling children seen in public at the Tourney of the Hand in book/Season 1 hide a darker and empty family life. Later books also retroactively reveal that Tommen, and maybe Myrcella too, have lived in terror of Joffrey their entire lives. Joffrey killed and skinned a pet fawn of Tommen, yet Cersei continued to dote on him. At one point Tommen even says that he used to "go away inside" mentally when Joffrey did certain things to him, though the exact extent of what he did (killing his pet or something far more sinister) has not been made clear. It is not mentioned or implied if Joffrey abused Myrcella too. However, despite their parents' loveless marriage, absent father, sociopathic and abusive older brother, willfully blind and functionally absent mother, Myrcella and Tommen still seem to have a good and genuinely loving relationship between the two of them, as fellow-sufferers sharing a household with Cersei and Joffrey. Tommen goes to the tournament for Joffrey's nameday, having been given permission by Cersei to do a practice mounted joust against a quintain with a straw filled mannequin as his opponent. Joffrey sees that the quality of the jousting is poor (the Hound says they are all gnats, and Ser Dontos Hollard shows up drunk), and Joffrey decides to cancel the whole thing. Tommen and Myrcella protest, as Cersei said Tommen could take part, and Joffrey can't just cancel it. When Joffrey says they are acting childish, Myrcella responds, "We are children. We are supposed to act childish." The Hound laughs and says, "She's got you there", and Joffrey relents. Myrcella doesn't cry when she is sent away on the ship to Dorne. In fact, she comforts Tommen, who is crying. Myrcella's ship actually doesn't sail directly to Dorne, but rather, sails to the Free City of Braavosacross the Narrow Sea, in order to meet on neutral ground (as well as to lessen the risk of Stannis's forces capturing Myrcella's ship and killing her before the alliance can be finalised). When they reach Braavos, Myrcella and her attendants are received by Dornish envoys, who in turn transport them back across the Narrow Sea to Dorne. After Joffrey is poisoned at his own wedding, several Martell characters remark that they are baffled at how Cersei doted on her psychopathic eldest son to the exclusion of her younger children, when Myrcella is actually the kind of born ruler that Joffrey never was. While Cersei barely paid attention to her daughter, the Martells discover that she is preternaturally more intelligent than many adults (despite being only eleven years old), brave from living through Joffrey's torments, as well as kind and a natural leader due to defending her little brother Tommen from Joffrey when she could. They also find her to be quick-witted, and with a polite courtesy that Cersei never expressed. Just as Tyrion was the only one of Tywin's three children to inherit his keen mind, Myrcella was the only one of Cersei's three children to inherit the famous intellect running in the family - meaning that Myrcella is essentially the intellect of Tywin or Tyrion put in the beautiful body of a young, teenaged Cersei, combined with Tyrion's sympathy for the downtrodden. As much as the Sand Snakes hate the Lannisters and wish to exact revenge, they and Ellaria Sand have no personal grudge against Myrcella and do not intend to harm her. Tyene Sand has a plan that involves Myrcella: according to Dornish law she is Joffrey's rightful heir, because in Dorne it is the eldest living child, not the eldest living son, that inherits. Since Dornishmen fight best at home, she suggests her uncle to crown Myrcella in order to incite the Lannisters and the Tyrells into attacking Dorne, then the Dornish shall bleed them in the passes and bury them beneath the blowing sands. Prince Doran says grudgingly he will think about that. After Tyene leaves, Doran orders to arrest her and the other Sand Snakes, to make certain they will not push Dorne into a war. However, his daughter Arianne attempts to carry out Tyene's plan, and seduces Ser Arys Oakheart for that purpose. Trystane is not involved in the plan, and it is unknown if he is aware of it. While Arianne, Myrcella and their escorts are on their way to Hellholt, where Arianne intends to crown Myrcella, they are intercepted and arrested by Areo Hotah. During the confusion moments, Ser Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne, who tried to persuade Arianne to kill Myrcella rather than crowning her, slashes at her and escapes. Luckily, her horse recoils, otherwise she would have lost her head. Maester Caleotte saves her life, but no treatment can restore her horribly disfigured face: she loses an ear and has a hideous facial scar. Dayne flees from Dorne and Doran Martell issues a manhunt for him. Her death in the television series, however, implies that she will die in a later novel. Cersei, who has no reason to suspect Myrcella is in danger (unlike in show, no threat is sent to Cersei from Dorne), sends Ser Balon Swann of the Kingsguard to Dorne to bring her back. Doran is worried that the Lannisters will hold the Martells responsible for Myrcella's injury. To buy time, he sends Myrcella to the Water Gardens, and orders his bannermen to delay Ser Balon by holding feasts and hunting trips for him. Doran consults with his daughter and nieces, and they come up with a solution: Myrcella, instructed by Arianne, will tell Ser Balon that Darkstar tried to kill her, lie about Ser Arys Oakheart's part in the incident, and ask him to capture the man who hurt her so severely. As Doran predicts, Ser Balon believes the partly-false story, and is unable to refuse Myrcella's request. After sending a report to King's Landing, he and Obara go to High Hermitage, chasing Darkstar. Cersei is shocked and saddened to hear the news about Myrcella from Kevan. She has no idea who is Darkstar and why he intended to harm Myrcella. Recalling how Tyrion was disfigured by Ser Mandon Moore at the Battle of the Blackwater, she claims that Tyrion is behind the attempt on her daughter's life, and Darkstar is his catspaw.[22] Currently Myrcella is on her way back to King's Landing, accompanied by Nymeria Sand. Trystane has stayed at Sunspear after a tearful parting from her. While Myrcella might have suspected that Jaime is her true father, based on rumors and the letters Stannis spread all over Westeros, she never says that to him or anyone else. Besides which, she has not seen Jaime since he left King's Landing to command one of his father's armies in the War of the Five Kings. He never goes to Dorne to try and rescue her. Jaime considers revealing to Myrcella that he is her father, but fears of the applications: he thinks Doran Martell has betrothed Myrcella to his son in the belief that she was Robert’s blood, and revealing the truth may result in the breaking of the betrothal (Jaime is unaware that the Martells know the truth about Cersei's children, based on Stannis's letters). Previously it was thought that Myrcella's death in the Season 5 finale indicated that she would die in the next upcoming novel, albeit with the circumstances moved around somewhat. Now, given [http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Ellaria_Sand%27s_coup_in_Dorne the drastic changes to the Martell storyline in Season 6], there is no strong reason to take Myrcella's death in the TV series as reflecting that she will in fact die in the next novel. According to the TV series official pronunciation guide developed for the cast and crew, "Myrcella" is pronounced "Mer-SELL-uh", as opposed to "MER-sull-uh" (that is, it doesn't rhyme with "Ursula"). Myrcella's age in the TV continuity The TV series never directly mentioned Myrcella's age at any point in time - complicated by the fact that she didn't appear at all in Seasons 3 and 4 and the role was recast when she returned in Season 5. In the first novel, Joffrey is twelve, Myrcella is eight, and Tommen is seven. The TV series aged-up many younger characters by two years, pushing the beginning of Robert's Rebellion from 15 years before to 17 years before the beginning of the narrative (because it is a plot point that characters such as Daenerys Targaryen, Robb Stark, and Jon Snow were born during events surrounding the war). The TV series increased Joffrey's age, however, not by two years but by four years, so that he was actually 16 in Season 1: actor Jack Gleeson was actually 18 years old in Season 1; the producers cast an older and more experienced actor due to the narrative weight the role needed to carry. The original Myrcella actress Aimee Richardson assumed that the character was around 10 years old in Season 1, though she said she was only guessing.[23] Because Myrcella is the middle child, she logically couldn't have been born less than about one year (9 months or so) younger than Joffrey, and Tommen can't be less than one year or so younger than her. Following the general principle followed in the TV series that one TV season equals one year of story time, Joffrey would have been 20 years old in Season 5, so Myrcella couldn't have been more than about 19 at the same time. Meanwhile, the TV series apparently retconned how old TV-Tommen is when the role was recast in Season 4, so that he is apparently around 18 years old in Season 5 (he has to be above the legal age of adulthood in Westeros because it is explicitly stated that he no longer has a regent). With Tommen's age pushed up to around 18 in Season 5, and Joffrey's more firmly established birth date meaning he would have been 20 in Season 5 (had he lived), the only possible scenario is for Myrcella to have been 19 years old in Season 5.